<CHAPTER II>

<WE were brought up together; there was not
quite a year difference in our ages. I need not say that we were
strangers to any species of disunion or dispute. Harmony was the
soul of our companionship, and the diversity and contrast that
subsisted in our characters drew us nearer together. Elizabeth
was of a calmer and more concentrated disposition; but, with all
my ardour, I was capable of a more intense application, and was
more deeply smitten with the thirst for knowledge. She busied
herself with following the aerial creations of the poets; and in
the majestic and wondrous scenes which surrounded our Swiss home
-- the sublime shapes of the mountains; the changes of the
season; tempest and calm; the silence of winter, and the life and
turbulence of our Alpine summers, -- she found ample scope for
admiration and delight. While my companion contemplated with a
serious and satisfied spirit the magnificent appearances of
things, I delighted in investigating their causes. The world was
to me a secret which I desired to divine. Curiosity, earnest
research to learn the hidden laws of nature, gladness akin to
rapture, as they were unfolded to me, are among the earliest
sensations I can remember.

On the birth of a second son, my junior by seven years, my
parents gave up entirely their wandering life, and fixed
themselves in their native country. We possessed a house in
Geneva, and a campagne on Belrive, the eastern shore of
the lake, at the distance of rather more than a league from the
city. We resided principally in the latter, and the lives of my
parents were passed in considerable seclusion. It was my temper
to avoid a crowd, and to attach myself fervently to a
few.>[My brothers were considerably younger than
myself; but I had a friend in one of my schoolfellows, who
compensated for this deficiency.]<I was indifferent,
therefore, to my schoolfellows in general; but I united myself in
the bonds of the closest friendship to one among them.>
Henry Clerval was the son of a merchant of Geneva[, an
intimate friend of my father. He was a boy of singular talent and
fancy. I remember, when he was nine years old, he wrote a fairy
tale, which was the delight and amazement of all his companions.
His favourite study consisted in books of chivalry and romance;
and when very young, I can remember, that we used to act plays
composed by him out of these favourite books, the principal
characters of which were Orlando, Robin Hood, Amadis, and St.
George]. <He was a boy of singular talent and fancy.
He loved enterprise, hardship, and even danger, for its own sake.
He was deeply read in books of chivalry and romance. He composed
heroic songs, and began to write many a tale of enchantment and
knightly adventure. He tried to make us act plays, and to enter
into masquerades, in which the characters were drawn from the
heroes of Roncesvalles, of the Round Table of King Arthur, and
the chivalrous train who shed their blood to redeem the holy
sepulchre from the hands of the infidels.>

No [youth]<human being> could have passed
[more happily than mine.]<a happier childhood than
myself.> My parents were [indulgent, and my companions
amiable. Our studies were never forced; and by some means we
always had an end placed in view, which excited us to ardour in
the prosecution of them. It was by this method, and not by
emulation, that we were urged to application. Elizabeth was not
incited to apply herself to drawing, that her companions might
not outstrip her; but through the desire of pleasing her aunt, by
the representation of some favourite scene done by her own hand.
We learned Latin and English, that we might read the writings in
those languages; and so far from study being made odious to us
through punishment, we loved application, and our amusements
would have been the labours of other children. Perhaps we did
not read so many books, or learn languages so quickly, as those
who are disciplined according to the ordinary methods; but what
we learned was impressed the more deeply on our memories.]<possessed by the very spirit of kindness and indulgence.
We felt that they were not the tyrants to rule our lot according
to their caprice, but the agents and creators of all the many
delights which we enjoyed. When I mingled with other families, I
distinctly discerned how peculiarly fortunate my lot was, and
gratitude assisted the development of filial love.>